I’ll be the first to admit it: I’ve been completely won over by Pinterest as a personal “pin board”. I’ve spent hours searching for great ideas and new things to try. However, regardless of what I think of Pinterest personally, the question remains: is Pinterest in the best interest of businesses’ Social Media and SEO strategies?
Launched in May 2012, and still in its beta stage, Pinterest has exploded onto the internet social scene. Its users are predominantly female, with nearly 30% declaring household incomes exceeding $100,000 annually. Users are located predominantly in the Midwest, which makes the site particularly interesting to The Clix Group, a St. Louis SEO company. Businesses that can find a home on Pinterest are those with visually appealing elements. This is especially true for retailers and those in the food business.
Pinterest has an interesting method of driving traffic. Users “pin” or “repin” photos that are linked to the home site. Websites can incorporate Pinterest buttons on pages with images, allowing visitors to pin the image and link to the site. This linking method is surprisingly effective at generating traffic. The problem? The links generated are no follow. This means that they presently do not add any value to a brand’s SEO.
Pinterest Pins: Technology
What does that really mean? Pinterest, as much as I hate to say it, not a key factor in SEO… yet. While the site currently does not generate track-able links, there is potential for that to change in the future. Pinterest has grown in less than a year to generating more referral traffic than YouTube, LinkedIn, and Google+ combined, and with that kind of progress the site has become the site to watch in 2012.
While SEO companies won’t find rankings use for Pinterest just yet, it is important for Social Media Strategists to jump on board and begin developing a community. The traffic generated to businesses with online retail options or nationwide locations can cause dramatic influx of business when navigated effectively.
